Public lands support a variety of outdoor recreation activities and facilities
including: trails, campsites, cabins and cottages, lodges, golf courses, ski
slopes, marinas, museums, swimming pools, and livestock operations. In addition
to maintenance and administrative support required for these facilities, many
also provide visitor education and interpretation services. This section provides
an overview of common management areas and describes the waste generated.

Planning, Construction and Renovation

material waste and impacts of materials used (including waste and pollution
from production, transportation and operation)

water / wastewater

asbestos

lead paint

Maintenance and Operation

inefficient use of energy

air emissions from fossil fuel burning

toxic or hazardous chemicals from cleaning, pest control and equipment
maintenance

water / wastewater

sanitary and domestic wastes

Procurement and Leasing

Procurement and leasing can set the pace for environmental leadership
or create a barrier to sustainability. Waste is created when inventories
are too full (products expire or are used in excess) or products are purchased
with too much packaging. When hazardous materials are purchased, pollution,
liability and regulatory issues may exist.

Waste and pollution are also generated in product development, transport
to the consumer and during use. It is the responsibility of procurement
and leasing to consdier each of these to minimize toxic chemicals, energy
and water use, materials consumption and pollution, air emissions and
packaging. For more detailed information, refer to the Green
Procurement topic hub.

Transportation Management

Public lands seek to provide access to visitors and employees while
minimizing impacts to habitats, wildlife, natural processes and historical
heirlooms. This involves infrastructure planning, construction, and maintenance
as well as vehicle fueling, repair and maintenance. Visitor education
may also be a component of transportation management. The following are
typical waste and environmental impacts that may result from transportation
activities.

Infrastructure Planning, Construction and Maintenance

bisection of habitats, migration routes and alteration of natural
processes due to location of transportation routes

congestion and noise from large numbers of visitors causing degradation
of visitor experience and wildlife stress

Hospitality
Services

Includes visitor services such as campgrounds, food service, lodging,
housekeeping and office or conference accommodations. Private concessionaires
may have contracts to perform these functions with oversite by the public
land manager. Wastes from these activities include:

Landscape
Management

Landscape management on public lands can range from the protection of
natural resources and restoration of natural systems to the planting and
maintenance of shrubs, trees, flowers and lawn for educational, aesthetic,
or energy efficiency purposes. Management activities include planting,
pest control, and maintenance in urban, rural and pristine settings. Waste
and pollution produced in these activities include:

water and energy waste,

harmful chemicals,

sediment from erosion,

invasive non-native plants

organic waste

Solid/Hazardous
Waste Management

Solid and hazardous waste management operations are responsible for reducing
the amount of waste generated in all of the other areas of operation, preventing
pollution and restoring disturbed and contaminated land and water to healthy
conditions.

Links in this section give more information on the specific operations mentioned
here. They come from a variety of sources including public land management agencies
and organizations dealing with these same issues in the private sector.

The Western Sustainability and Pollution Prevention Network (WSPPN) is a cooperative alliance of pollution prevention (P2) programs throughout EPA Region 9 (Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Trust Territories, and Tribal Lands). The network serves as a technical resource for regional P2 issues through researching, consolidating, and disseminating P2 information. WSPPN was established in 1997 and is run as a service provided by The Business Environmental Program (BEP) at the University of Nevada, Reno.